Thursday, November 8, 2018
12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Registration and service fair open at 11:00 a.m.
Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College
65-30 Kissena Blvd, Flushing, NY 11367
Reeves Avenue between 61st Road and the Horace Harding Expressway
Find directions and accessibility features here.
The conference will make use of multiple theaters and communal spaces for panels and breakout discussions, a networking lunch, pop-up performances, and more.
Full Day Schedule
| Time | Activity | Location |
| 11:00 a.m. | Registration | Colden Auditorium Lobby |
| Service Fair | Colden Auditorium Lobby | |
| Legal Clinic | Colden Auditorium Conference Room | |
| 12:00 p.m. | Opening Keynote and Breakout Session: Advancing Immigrant Rights through Dance |
Colden Auditorium |
| 1:40 p.m. |
Panel & Breakout Sessions:
|
Goldstein Theatre stage
|
| Mid-Conference Break | ||
| 3:45 p.m. | Networking Lunch | Goldstein Theatre Lobby and Colden Auditorium Lobby |
| Service Fair | Colden Auditorium Lobby | |
| Legal Clinic | Colden Auditorium Conference Room | |
| Pop-Up Performances curated by Queens Theatre | Throughout communal spaces | |
| 5:00 p.m. |
Panel & Breakout Sessions:
|
Goldstein Theatre stage |
| 7:00 p.m. | Closing Keynote: Immigrants. Dance. Arts. — Stories from the Field | Colden Auditorium |
Registration
11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Registration will be available throughout the day
Colden Auditorium Lobby
Service Fair
11:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Colden Auditorium Lobby
Connect with organizations that provide resources, services, and networking opportunities for immigrant dance artists and workers. Participating groups will share information about how you can be involved in their programs as well as how they can be of support to immigrant artists and workers.
Participating groups include:
- Artspace Sanctuary & New Sanctuary Coalition
- Lotus Music & Dance
- Make the Road
- Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs
- New York Foundation for the Arts
- New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- The Actors Fund
Legal Clinic
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and 3:00 to 5:00 p.m
Colden Auditorium Conference Room and Production Offices
The Legal Clinic, organized by Dance/NYC Board Chair Elissa D. Hecker, offers 30-minute individual consultations with arts and entertainment attorneys who specialize in immigration law. The attorneys are volunteering either through the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association or on their own. Attorneys are prepared to discuss legal issues pertaining to immigration questions that arise in the entertainment and arts fields.
Attendees who wish to participate in the Legal Clinic should sign up for a slot through an online form at goo.gl/forms/WUP2JbNsfakdX0wo1.
Opening Keynote
12:00 to 12:55 p.m.
Colden Auditorium, Capacity: 300
Five (5) spaces for wheelchair seating are available.
Welcome Remarks
Featured speakers:
- Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, PhD, President, Queens College
- Commissioner Bitta Mostofi, Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs
- Alejandra Duque Cifuentes, Acting Co-Executive Director, Programming and Justice Initiatives
- Milena Luna, Acting Co-Executive Director, Operations and Grantmaking
Conversation on Advancing Immigrant Rights through Dance
What is the role of dance makers and artistry in the movement for immigrant rights?
Featured speakers:
- Dr. Derrick León Washington, dance anthropologist, arts activist, and independent curator (moderator)
- Pascal Rioult, Artistic Director, Choreographer, Rioult Dance
- Potri Ranka Manis Queano Nur, Founder, Artistic Director, and Tradition-Bearer, Kinding Sindaw
Panels & Breakout Sessions
Each session will consist of an introductory panel discussion that will provide participants with food for thought followed by facilitator-led small group discussions. All panel and breakout sessions will take place on the stages of the Goldstein Theatre and Colden Auditorium. All seating is accessible.
Advancing Immigrant Rights through Dance
1:10 to 1:40 p.m.
Goldstein Theatre stage and Colden Auditorium stage
Capacity: 300
Following the opening keynote, this breakout session will explore the role of dance makers and artistry in the movement for immigrant rights and ways to best support immigrant artists in the metropolitan New York City area. Participants will engage in facilitated small group discussions to identify needs and recommendations for a more equitable dance ecology.
Role of Presenters in Advancing Immigrant Artists
1:45 to 2:40 p.m., Goldstein Theatre stage
2:50 to 3:45 p.m., Colden Auditorium stage
Capacity: 300
This session explores the role of presenters in strengthening the landscape of dance making for immigrant artists. How can presenters better serve immigrant artists and audiences? What is their role as sanctuaries? Participants will engage in facilitated small group discussions directly following the panel to identify needs and recommendations for a more equitable dance ecology.
Featured speakers:
- Yasemin Ozumerzifon, Director of Community Action, Gibney (moderator)
- Abou Farman, Assistant Professor, New School; New Sanctuary Movement, Artspace Sanctuary
- Abdel R. Salaam, Artistic Director, DanceAfrica; Executive Artistic Director and Choreographer, Forces of Nature Dance Theatre
- Karesia Batan, Executive Director, Queensboro Dance Festival
Immigrant Audiences and Audiences for Immigrant Artists
1:45 to 2:40 p.m., Colden Auditorium stage
2:50 to 3:45 p.m., Goldstein Theatre stage
Capacity: 300
This session explores how to expand opportunities for increasing the dance field’s engagement of immigrant audiences and developing audiences for immigrant artists. The panel will share what resources and tools immigrant artists need and how to engage audiences as advocates for immigrant artists and immigrant rights. Participants will engage in facilitated small group discussions directly following the panel to identify needs and recommendations for a more equitable dance ecology.
Featured speakers:
- Marlène Ramírez-Cancio, Associate Director, Arts & Media, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics (moderator)
- Mersiha Mesihovic, Artist; Artistic Director, CIRCUITDEBRIS
- Naomi Sturm, Director of Public Programs, Center for Traditional Music & Dance
-
Ya Yun Teng, Community Outreach – Chinese Project Director, Flushing Town Hall
Role of Funders in Advancing Immigrant Artists
5:00 to 5:55 p.m., Goldstein Theatre stage
6:00 to 6:55 p.m., Colden Auditorium stage
Capacity: 300
This session explores the role of funders in strengthening the landscape of dance making for immigrant artists. How can funding be leveraged to advance immigrant artists and their role in furthering immigrant rights? Participants will engage in facilitated small group discussions directly following the panel to identify needs and recommendations for a more equitable dance ecology.
Featured speakers:
- Sara Reisman, Executive Director and Artistic Director, Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation
- Tom Finkelpearl, Commissioner, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
Dance Education for Immigrant Students
5:00 to 5:55 p.m., Colden Auditorium stage
6:00 to 6:55 p.m., Goldstein Theatre stage
Capacity: 300
This session explores the opportunities for strengthening dance education for immigrant students in and outside of public schools by investigating solutions-oriented frameworks. Panelists will address how educational programs can nurture the development of artistry within immigrant youth so that they can explore pathways to becoming dance artists, educators, and advocates. The panel will explore how collaborations between the dance and education communities can advance language access, learning, and artistry among immigrant students. Participants will engage in facilitated small group discussions directly following the panel to identify needs and recommendations for a more equitable dance ecology.
Featured speakers:
- María Cioè-Peña, Assistant Professor, Early Childhood, Elementary, and Literacy Education, Montclair State University (moderator)
- Ana Nery Fragoso, NYCDOE Director of Dance, Office of Arts and Special Projects
- Ben Espinosa, NYCDOE Arts Partnership Manager, Office of Arts and Special Projects
- Dian Dong, Associate Director, Chen Dance Center
- Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director & CEO, Ballet Hispánico
Mid-Conference Break
Service Fair
11:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Colden Auditorium Lobby
Connect with organizations that provide resources, services, and networking opportunities for immigrant dance artists and workers. Participating groups will share information about how you can be involved in their programs as well as how they can be of support to immigrant artists and workers.
Participating groups include:
- Artspace Sanctuary & New Sanctuary Coalition
- Lotus Music & Dance
- Make the Road
- Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs
- New York Foundation for the Arts
- New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
-
The Actors Fund
Legal Clinic
3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Colden Auditorium Conference Room and Production Offices
The Legal Clinic, organized by Dance/NYC Board Chair Elissa D. Hecker, offers 30-minute individual consultations with arts and entertainment attorneys who specialize in immigration law. The attorneys are volunteering either through the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association or on their own. Attorneys are prepared to discuss legal issues pertaining to immigration questions that arise in the entertainment and arts fields.
Attendees who wish to participate in the Legal Clinic should sign up for a slot through the online form at goo.gl/forms/WUP2JbNsfakdX0wo1.
Lunch
3:45 to 5:00 p.m.
Lunch will be provided in the lobbies of the Goldstein Theatre and Colden Auditorium. Outdoor seating will also be available.
Pop-Up Performances
3:45 to 5:00 p.m.
Enjoy pop-up performances by immigrant dance artists and groups, curated by our partners at the Queens Theatre.
Participating artists include:
- Calpulli Mexican Dance Company
- Tango Mundo
- Ru Dance
- Mala's Odissi with Mala Desai and Juhi Pant
Closing Keynote
Immigrants. Dance. Arts – Stories from the Field
7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Colden Auditorium, Capacity: 300
Five (5) spaces for wheelchair seating are available.
This session will feature stories of resiliency, artistry, and immigration from NYC-based dance artists followed by a closing conversation on the future of the movement for immigrant rights in the metropolitan NYC area.
Featured speakers:
- Alejandra Duque Cifuentes, Acting Co-Executive Director, Programming and Justice Initiatives, Dance/NYC (moderator)
- Kayvon Pourazar, Dancer, Teacher
- Marco Castillo, Founder, IIPSOCULTA
- Pelenakeke (Keke) Brown, Artist; Assistant Director, Culture Push
